I need advice about moving to ireland
 

Hi my names Tim and I live in the united states and I really wanna move to Ireland its beautiful there I really don't have a plan I wanna kinda pick up and go on a whim. I guess my question is if its hard to find a job and housing I know some people house Americans sometimes to get on there feet and how I would go about looking for someone to help me out

Unless you have an EU passport I think you will find it hard. I don't think you have the right to live and work there with a US passport.
Plus Ireland is one of the countries worst hit by the Euro crisis so jobs are very thin on the ground there.
Do not think of going on a whim - you could end up in real problems if you do. You need to think things through and find out how you can live there legally, and find a job before you go. Plenty of unemployed Irish looking for work right now.

<<I wanna kinda pick up and go on a whim>>

Well, good luck with that. Unless you've got a passport from an EU country, your limit is 90 days, after which you're an illegal alien.

If you are a university student, you can always look for a study abroad program in Ireland. That's how lots of young Americans spend a year there--legally.

Thank you guys for the advice it gives me some things to think about and to try to work on getting an EU passport

condoms used to be illegal to bring in or use in Ireland - if that is still the case stock up if...

Well, good luck with that. Unless you've got a passport from an EU country, your limit is 90 days, after which you're an illegal alien.>

Well not always - do you have some job skill that is in demand in Ireland and which cannot be filled by locals?

Are your grandparents of Irish ancestry perhaps (not sure about Ireland but some EU countries let you get an EU passport I believe if your grandparents were born there - so check if your grandparents were born in an EU country and ask

and yes by studying there you can exceed the 90 days - check with your local university study abroad office about that.

and probably if you have a ton of money and can open some business that would employ locals you may get in as well.

You can get an EU passport only if you are an EU citizen - or meet very specific requirements in terms of birth of parents etc. You need to contact the Irish embassy or consulate in your area to determine is there is any way you would qualify (VERY doubtful).

Separately, the unemployment situation there is severe - so even if you could get a passport, getting a job would be extremely difficult - and the cost of living is quite a bit higher than in the US.

Your best chance is to enroll in a university there (if you qualify) or find a US university that has a year abroad program there. (A relative of mine spent a year in Scotland that way and loved it - but she picked a university that had a strong program in her major area.)

Going on a whim to live there is not only unrealistic - it's illegal - and if found you would be summarily deported as an illegal alien (with the possibility of being charged a large fine and banned from Schengen possibly for many years).

you could also look at say getting Italian citizenship and then just move with the EU. Italy does the whole thing dual citizenship thing based on grandparents

"<i>to try to work on getting an EU passport</i>"

:D

You don't just snap your fingers, go into some store, and get yourself a European passport. You must <i>qualify</i> for one, which is unlikely. And what are the chances you have Italian grandparents??

Have you actually traveled in Ireland? How did you hear about people housing Americans to help them get on their feet there? Perhaps you can marry an Irish girl (who has a job) and get a passport that way.

Troll?

Troll?

Just young.

Because there were so many immigrants in the northeastern US, there are many thousands of people who qualify for EU passports, especially Irish and to a lesser extent Italy.

A summer resident of Nantucket, an former American ambassador to somewhere and a major Democratic party fundraiser, for Pete's sake, bragged recently in print that everyone in her family is an Irish citizen.

So, the OP may have no trouble at all getting an EU passport, but unless he can wash dishes, he is unlikely to find a job. Unemplyment appears to be dreadful, and there are far more housing foreclosures proportionately than in the US.

It's true that most people in the US - all parts - not the NE - have ancestors who emigrated from some part of europe. But for most people it's not Ireland (if that qualifies you) or Italy - and for most it's not grandparents. For someone who is young now ancestors from europe are much more likely to be great grandparents (I'm 55 and it's great grandparents for me and double greats for daughters)or even further back. So the chance that he will qualify isn't great.

Suggest the OP get some accurate info from the appropriate embassies to see if there is any way he can qualify.

I still think a student visa is the best chance for him to spend a year there - to see if it's what he really wants to do.
Unless you can get a decent job that Guiness is VERY expensive.

heck, Michelle Bachmann got Swiss citizenship.

Maybe Tim has a plan or reason he thinks he can get EU citizenship, I don't think hardly anyone would think you can just go buy that easily like an airplane ticket. But if Tim returns, I would be interested in where he heard about Irish people trying to house and help out US immigrants get on their feet. Seems an odd charity.

Well I suppose there are some people that want to help out practically anyone - but this sounds more like a scam than a charity. (Why would they want to help penniless americans who may or may not have marketable skills to emigrate to a place that already has massive unemployment?)

I would assume he is ill-informed, nytraveler. It does seem absurd. but he hasn't been back so perhaps he has learned that if he hasn't got a good claim on Irish citizenship, he can't just up and move there.

Central Europeans do it all the time, of course, EU or not, but they are working the kinds of jobs that illegal aliens work at here in the States and have a well-developed network for finding them, something the OP presumably lacks.

I had the same fantasy (about France, not Ireland) when I was young. It's a very common dream. Of course, this was pre-internet days and getting all the info took more time and effort than it does now.

If the OP doesn't quality for a passport from an EU country, then of course it's tough going. OTOH, that's no need to give up entirely.

DH and I met in the late 1980s at a Learning Annex course on how to get a job overseas. Neither of us had (or have) a passport from an EU country. It took us 12 years, but we did get there and we're now well into our second decade as expats in Europe. So dreams that seem impossible may still come true...if you stay focused and persevere.

FWIW, Tim, don't forget to look at companies in the U.S. that are headquartered or have a very strong presence in Europe. Internal transfers to Europe are more difficult than they used to be, but they do happen. Just accept that you will have to put in your time stateside and develop skills (and contacts) that are useful overseas.

OTOH, if you're just trolling, please go away and play in another sandbox.

Guess Tim wasn't able to find his way back.

If you are young, you can get working holiday visa for Ireland valid 12 months: https://www.dfa.ie/travel/visas/us-i...-arrangements/